skinny fat
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It's hard to understand for someone who is overweight, because it definitely falls under "I wish I had your problems". But for someone who is after a very athletic look, "skinny fat" is an undesirable state. It might mean you have cellulite on your thighs, or no visible sixpack, or even love handles.
Compare two people who seem to occupy the same amount of space but one looks very athletic and the other doesn't. You can do that easily here, just enter a height and weight range and you'll see a lot of very different bodies:
http://www.mybodygallery.com/
The skinny-fat phenomenon is also why people criticize the BMI way of measuring fitness. For people in the normal-to-slightly-above-normal range, there is a world of difference in appearance (and possibly health) between someone who has a high BMI but a lot of lean body mass and someone who is skinny fat.0 -
I'm REALLY embarrassed by this but I'll show it anyways since I was a paretty good example of someone who was "skinny fat".
The first one was before I got over weight for the first time. I just didn't work out and ate whatever I wanted without caring about it at all.
The one on the right was while I was just starving myself to get thin, but when I did actually allow myself to eat, I would eat complete crap & didn't workout.
I was sick & always tired and I looked sick & tired. It was disgusting but at the time I didn't even realize it cause I was just too obsessed with just being thin & didn't care about exercise or being healthy.
Now I do Pilates 5 - 6 days a week & eat healthy foods and stuff. I look way better now at a much heavier weight than I did back when I was skinny fat.
Off topic, but that black shirt you are wearing in the first pic is super cute.0 -
Skinny Fat....They both have relatively the same body fat %.....
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Haha, thanks! ^.^Off topic, but that black shirt you are wearing in the first pic is super cute.0 -
I think I could be a perfect example. I will see if I can find pictures to post. I have been on this site for about 10 months and eating well and working out and have gained 2 pounds. However my body is firmer and more compact. I have lost inches and my clothes are baggie on me.
Pre myfitnesspal I would have been skinny fat.0 -
love your look!!I'm REALLY embarrassed by this but I'll show it anyways since I was a paretty good example of someone who was "skinny fat".
The first one was before I got over weight for the first time. I just didn't work out and ate whatever I wanted without caring about it at all.
The one on the right was while I was just starving myself to get thin, but when I did actually allow myself to eat, I would eat complete crap & didn't workout.
I was sick & always tired and I looked sick & tired. It was disgusting but at the time I didn't even realize it cause I was just too obsessed with just being thin & didn't care about exercise or being healthy.
Now I do Pilates 5 - 6 days a week & eat healthy foods and stuff. I look way better now at a much heavier weight than I did back when I was skinny fat.
Off topic, but that black shirt you are wearing in the first pic is super cute.0 -
When people say they're "skinny fat", they mean that they are skinny, but live an unhealthy lifestyle. Being thin usually lies in their genetics, and therefore they can eat lots of junk and not exercise and maintain their figure. This does not indicate though, that they are in good health.0
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Before: 137lbs 26% body fat After 136lbs 20% body fat. Any questions?0 -
Skinny Fat....They both have relatively the same body fat %.....
And you know this how?
The person on the right looks skinny to me. I don't see how anyone could call her fat.
So, if the fit woman has 18% bodyfat, that means the skinny woman does as well. That makes her skinny with low LBM, but it does not make her fat. No one with a low bodyfat% is fat. That is an incorrect use of the term.0 -
To me it means they may be thin and young, but at 54, I could kick their *kitten*. ;^)0
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Before: 137lbs 26% body fat After 136lbs 20% body fat. Any questions?
Perfect example.
You look amazing by the way.
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Before: 137lbs 26% body fat After 136lbs 20% body fat. Any questions?
Ok. You win. Thread can end now.
Also. Holy cow. You look awesome.0 -
Before: 137lbs 26% body fat After 136lbs 20% body fat. Any questions?
OP take note. This is the perfect example.
Great job!!0 -
I'm skinny fat and its rubbish! lol. I'm 5'4/5'5, weigh 134lbs, have around 30% bf, wear 12/14 UK clothes, have love handles and flabby bits. They say the way to lower body fat % is to lift heavy which means I will always be skinny fat as I'm not allowed to lift heavy boo hoo. I've got myself some lighter weights so I'm keeping my fingers crossed those who shout LIFT HEAVY! are wrong.
Rant over lol0 -
Skinny Fat....They both have relatively the same body fat %.....
And you know this how?
The person on the right looks skinny to me. I don't see how anyone could call her fat.
So, if the fit woman has 18% bodyfat, that means the skinny woman does as well. That makes her skinny with low LBM, but it does not make her fat. No one with a low bodyfat% is fat. That is an very incorrect use of the term.
Yeah, the woman on the right is "skinny skinny", not skinny fat.0 -
Oh my god. She is SO skinny... no knocking it but she is NO way skinny fat. if she was any less fat she would be like, tooo thin maybes.Skinny Fat....They both have relatively the same body fat %.....
And you know this how?
The person on the right looks skinny to me. I don't see how anyone could call her fat.
So, if the fit woman has 18% bodyfat, that means the skinny woman does as well. That makes her skinny with low LBM, but it does not make her fat. No one with a low bodyfat% is fat. That is an very incorrect use of the term.
Yeah, the woman on the right is "skinny skinny", not skinny fat.0 -
I think you're using the word 'fat' too literally. I've always understood it to be someone who is skinny, but is equally as out of shape and unattractive as a fat person because they didn't just lose 'fat' when they lost weight, they also lost all their muscle mass because they included no resistance training into their weightloss program. You ever hear the phrase "Skinny girls look good in clothes, but fit girls look good naked"? - They're referring to a skinny girl who has no muscle tone or definition despite their low body fat %. Here's a few photos that I feel like I would define as 'skinny-fat' - mostly because of all the cottage cheese.
Vs.
See the difference?0 -
fat is fat0
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There does appear to be a real medical term called normal weight obesity. And probably that is what skinny fat is supposed to mean. But, lots of people use it to mean all kinds of different things.0
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You ever hear the phrase "Skinny girls look good in clothes, but fit girls look good naked"? -
The version I heard was skinny girls look good in clothes, CURVEY girls look good naked (said by a curvy girl obvs). My brother is so mean, he totally disagreed and said it was mixed up because skinny girls look bad in clothes because they don't fill them nice they are drowned in them, but tey look hot naked, without flab and things. He is no gentleman!! I think all kinds of beauty, but that's how my mind works 0 -
We could talk about it all day!! Fat is fat.. No. If u want WEIGHT LOSS u can end up "skinny fat" that's when u don't care what you're losing, water , muscle, fat.. That is what causes you to be "skinny fat" when u don't use your muscles, you can deteriorate them causing you to become flabby.
I'm the smallest I've ever been that i can recall in 18 years!! 2 years ago i got to where i was 175, (im now 166) even at 175 this time around, i am much tighter, i may have weighed the same, but the pictures that i have , well the speak for them selves, i was physically lighter, but this time in thinner.
I am really no count at explaining stuff!! Lol.. Alls i know is just during will cause weight loss, but u chance losing muscle, which if so so so hard to regain! The last time i lost weight (the summer of 2010) i did all taebo. . Lost 54lbs, got down to 175 i was still flabby ! This time at 175, i was tighter and more firm. Less likly to be skinny fat!
gotta love weights 0 -
I am skinny fat. I wear a size 0 but my stomach isn't flat and my thighs jiggle.0
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I think there are two sides to this:
1) skinny fat as a layman's term for normal weight obesity. I have fit this definition as at a BMI of 24 (normal) my body fat has normally been above 32% (the cut-off point for obesity). This, to me, is a family trait. My mum, at a 'healthy' BMI, has always been told by doctors to lose weight as it might help with her heart problems. At a BMI of 21 I have a normal BF% too, so no longer fit what I see as the technical definition of skinny fat.
2) skinny fat used as a contrast to a body ideal that involves more visible muscle definition. To me it seems a very useful marketing tool because if people aren't dissatisfied with their bodies, they will buy less. It's saying to a generation that soft curves are lesser to hard muscle, and selling a body shape that has never previously been marketed to women. I do find this new ideal attractive, but I am uncomfortable with the idea it is the only possible goal. The suggestion that only lean and muscular women look good naked is the worst form of body shaming and undermining imaginable. I remember being young and embarrassed of my body, until I learnt that if someone wanted to see me naked, they would be happy with what they saw, whatever that was, and I learnt not to worry so much. No one should be ashamed to be seen naked, and this is the suggestion in all of the '___ look good clothed, ___ look good naked.'
As for skinny fat meaning skinny and unfit/unhealthy, to me that is nonsensical as it suggests that being fat MEANS being unfit/unhealthy, when there are clearly 'fat' people who are fitter (can run further, lift more) and healthier (better blood test results, BP etc) than average.
Finally, how do I let this affect me? I think I'd rather avoid the term all together and think in terms of 'I would like' (eg a flatter stomach, strong arms, to be able to run further), rather than feeling I should be insulting myself for not being perfect.0 -
It means you look pretty good with clothes on even slim, but when they come off you are flabby
This..............
Ditto! I'm currently a UK size 10, but still flabby. It means that my size 10 jeans are mainly comprised of squishy flab. I have a high body fat percentage (27%) and so I need to lose fat and build muscle. For me, skinny fat means that no matter what dress size I am, I'd rather have less fat and more muscle and be fitter and healthier.0 -
It means you look pretty good with clothes on even slim, but when they come off you are flabby
This..............
Ditto! I'm currently a UK size 10, but still flabby. It means that my size 10 jeans are mainly comprised of squishy flab. I have a high body fat percentage (27%) and so I need to lose fat and build muscle. For me, skinny fat means that no matter what dress size I am, I'd rather have less fat and more muscle and be fitter and healthier.
27% is not particularly high for a woman, and I can understand wanting to be a lower than that, but I wouldn't see it as being 'fat', and I doubt the average person would either. Having fat you'd like not to have doesn't mean you ARE 'fat'. But I guess if you find applying a derogatory term to yourself motivating, no one's going to stop you.0 -
I think it sounds OK. I wouldn't want a hard body, it'snot for me.0
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i'm currently skinny fat. i only have around 5-8 pounds to lose. defined arms, in good shape. but all my last bit of weight is basically a spare tire round my waist, so it's soft to the touch, jiggly if i jump around.
i realize to someone trying to lose 100 pounds trying to lose 5 sounds like it's not even a real problem, but when you do get to this point, you'll understand.0 -
At my heaviest around 11 years ago i was 178 lbs and fat fat! Then i lost a lot of weight very quickly through low calories and a lot of cardio and got down to 122lbs in 5 months. I loved the way clothes fit me but i still had flabby unattractive upper arms and legs although I'd lost fat on my bum, belly and boobs!
I still had 27% body fat but as some parts were skinny ie. my boney ribs sticking out the fat was really noticeable. I relaxed my diet over the years and have fluctuated between 124 & 150 lbs and am currently 145 with 31% fat. Basically the fat has returned to the places that were skinny so I'm visibly fatter and quite a bit heavier.
This time i am focussing on losing the fat and i'm weight training 3 times a week because skinny fat wasn't nice! I'm also eating more than previously when I've lost weight and higher protein so hopefully the end results will be different. I am hoping for 115 lbs and 20% body fat in the end but weight isn't as important to me as losing fat now.0 -
no thatz chunkytried posting a picture from google, didn't work.
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It means you look pretty good with clothes on even slim, but when they come off you are flabby
This..............
Ditto! I'm currently a UK size 10, but still flabby. It means that my size 10 jeans are mainly comprised of squishy flab. I have a high body fat percentage (27%) and so I need to lose fat and build muscle. For me, skinny fat means that no matter what dress size I am, I'd rather have less fat and more muscle and be fitter and healthier.
27% is not particularly high for a woman, and I can understand wanting to be a lower than that, but I wouldn't see it as being 'fat', and I doubt the average person would either. Having fat you'd like not to have doesn't mean you ARE 'fat'. But I guess if you find applying a derogatory term to yourself motivating, no one's going to stop you.
You're right - and totally most of it is in my head and my brain lagging about 4-5 months behind my body. It's very difficult for me to comprehend what I actually look like now, even taking progress pictures! I feel fat - but yeah, I'm trying to work on my brain realising that I'm not!0
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